NMRA membership, National & Regional Meetings

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

For some reason I just considered a couple things and would welcome comments:

a) Having been in the hobby 4 times from Jr Hi to retirement years, it occurs to me that the NMRA has benefitted my hobby and I ought to support it (assuming affordable, I’ll have to look

b) Being in Texas, I presume I’m unlikely to see a national convention in my 3 easy cities (free board with the kids) of Houston, DFW or San Antonio as those may not compete because most attendees would be far away (same disadvantage I presume about N.D., Alaska & Hawaii). So I’m prompted to ask, how are the regional meetings you’ve attended, in Texas or elsewhere? How do they tend to be conducted and what do you get from (or contribute to) them?

Any comments appreciated. Maybe asked before or periodically?

2

Paul,

I have been a menber of the NMRA since 1969, joined at age 12.

That said, I have never been to a convention or meet of any kind, regional or national. I don’t have any interest in contests or the acheavement program. Conventions, even a few times when it was real close to me, are not my sort of thing, and often my personal obligations have not allowed the time even if I was interested.

Yet I still consider my mt membership very valueable and worth while. I still have the orginal NMRA data sheets I received as part of my membeship package, and still use them as a reference for my modeling.

I use the NMRA web site from time to time, and receive the monthly publications from both the national and local levels.

The NMRA has a number of membership options from a $9.95 trial membership up to sustainng memberships for clubs and businesses. The normal individual membership with full benifits is $66.00 a year.

I’m sure the events are very nice if you are into that sort of thing. I did start to get more involved at one point, and

3

http://www.lonestarregion.com/

Next years convention is in Arlington, June 22-26, 2016. When you join the national org, you are also in your regional org.

4

Hello All,

I too got back into HO scale modeling after a 40-year hiatus. One of the first things I did was to join the NMRA. The magazine, in my opinion, is worth the price of membership alone.

Because of my location; about an hour-and-a-half west of Denver and a second mile up, I’ve become a Lone Wolf modeler. Not out of choice but because of location.

I try to attend “local” train shows but even those are about two-hours away in Colorado Springs or in Denver.

I’ve been to the Colorado Model Railroad Museum at the Greeley Freight Station; about a 6-hour round trip, and the Denver HO Model Railroad Club in Golden, which takes about the same hour-and-a-half to get to as Denver.

What the NMRA provides for me is access to the regional clubs, not physically but via thier newsletters. I can not only keep up on national news and pikes I’d never be able to visit via the NMRA magazine I also get get the regional scoop on contests and special happenings through these newsletters.

In the “Members Only” scetion I also have access to clinic videos, data sheets and selected article from other regions.

Supporting the organization that has provided standars for DCC, wheels, clearances, etc. and now LCC is important to me. Without these standards think of the nightmare of having a club layout with one standard of control, wheel gage and clearances, and a home layout with another set of standards.

Then there’s also the Recommended Practices (available on the website to non-members) that help standardize things like car weight (agree or disagree), turnout configuration, couplers, wheels and trucks.

Yes, the market would probably weed out the lesser systems but think about the USB standard in computers that allows greater connectivity accr

5

I live in the DFW area and belonged, and attended, both regional and local meets. I say attended, because to me, it’s not worth the 60+ bucks a year.

I have given both painting and DCC clinics at both, so I did participate. I haven’t been a member in at least 10 years.

6

If you have not previously been a member of the NMRA, I highly recommend the Rail Pass trial membership. This is a six month membership with all the normal benefits except for voting or running for an office. You will receive the magazine during this period.

You will also be a member of your region, and a division( if your address is located within one). Go to nmra.org, click on the Regions and Divisions link, and you can find the contact information for your regional officers. You can also see if you have a local division. You will find that a lot more of the NMRA’s mission is done via the regions and divisions than with the national. Most regions will hold a convention at least once a year. Divisions each have their own meeting schedules. If there is a meeting near you, you can attend and get information there.

John Fallon

7

I joined the NMRA for the first time a few years ago. I’m in the Garden State Division. They usually have four quarterly meets that include presentations and layout tours. I’ve been to the national convention twice when its been within driving distance, though both times I went as a non-member. All I can say is that i have found it well worthed.

8

That assumption may not be warranted. The key to a national convention in a given city is having a local group band together and make a strong case for it with the NMRA leadership. That is how and why Madison Wisconsin, with a population well under 250,000, hosted a national NMRA convention (and it was a good one) in the late 1990s even though it is not a “big city” and has only a regional-type airport: the local NMRA division made a strong case for it and carried the day.

A national convention, and the bigger regional conventions, can create a focus or density of interest that can open up opportunities for tours of industries or railyards etc. that might otherwise not exist. For the NMRA national in Madison for example, we were able to take a complete tour of the Wisconsin Central roundhouse in Stevens Point WI. Such a tour would otherwise have been denied. It also means you can have clinics even on very narrow topics because you have enough people attending to make it worthwhile. I don’t regard this is just a “social” function. If you put enough people with similar interests into an area for a special event, it opens up opportunities. There is a social aspect to, although the distinction between learning and socializing can be a fine one.

Because Milwaukee where I live has Trainfest I do not regard the big National Train Show

9

DFW and Houston aren’t “far” away from people. Think about how many people pass through those two places on their way to somewhere else because of their massive airports! Houston and DFW are one leg away from almost every population center in the US. San Antonio’s economy is heavily tourist driven and hosting conventions is a big part of it. Heck, the Alamodome exists primarily to host out-of-town teams!

10

The heart and soul of the NMRA is the local regions and divisions. I second the Rail-Pass membership option and attend as many functions as you can and then make your decision. In my opinion, national offer’s very little for the individual member. There are other paid video memberships, MRVP being one, that have been by far a greater value to me than being a NMRA member. I say that because I live in an area that has near zero NMRA activities.

11

A very simple way to support the NMRA is just to send them money–as much or as little as you choose.

In another topic, it appears the NMRA is bothered by non-members getting benefits without joining. And, I suspect the word “joining” means paying dues. As opposed to voting, being social, etc.

So, here’s a chance to painlessly support the organization without having to deal, or not, with conventions, regions, and the like.

Now, if you would LIKE to avail yourself of some or all of the benefits of membership, then join. But for simple support, it appears a check-in-the-mail would work.

Ed